Green beans in tomato salsa

A lot of people may remember the green beans of their childhood; boiled to an inch of their life until they were limp and well not really all that green.

In fact when I met Mr Shady Pine, he was a reluctant vegetable eater for this very reason. At the risk of getting myself into serious deep water, his experience with vegetables was very much one of plain and overcooked vegetables. This was something of a revelation to me as I had grown up on a meditteranean diet full of vegetables that were mostly seasoned or dressed in some way and not usually cooked for very long. Vegetables in our family were a pleasure to eat whereas for Mr Shady Pine, vegetables were to be left on the plate until last, poked with your fork until they were cold and then finally eaten under sufferance.

I think these days most of us, including my my mother in law, prefer to cook vegetables so they are tender yet still crisp.


A side dish I make usually to go with grilled lamb cutlets, is green beans sauted in a fresh tomato salsa. The actual cooking time of these is only about 7-8 minutes which allows the beans to remain green and crisp. These are also lovely on their own, sprinkled with crumbled fetta cheese and accompanied by some fresh crusty bread.

Green beans in tomato salsa

Serves 2

Ingredients:
2 handfuls of grean beans
1 garlic clove, crushed
1 large tomato, diced
1 Tbs olive oil
S&P
1/2 lemon

1. Heat olive oil in a pan over low heat. Saute the garlic for 1 minute.
2. Add the tomatoes, green beansand S&P to the pan. Stir and cover and cook for 7-8 minutes over low heat. It is important to cover the pan as this will allow the beans to steam.
3. Serve and drizzle lemon juice over the top.